Irma Bohorquez-Geisler
Photographs of Mexican Community in the US | August 2-31, Reception August 2nd
Wagner College Spotlight Gallery  1 Campus Road (Todt-Hill)

Irma Bohorquez-Geisler's Black and white photographs document the growing Mexican immigrant community on Staten Island. Her work shows how Mexican immigrant families bring their own traditions to a new environment, while simultaneously demonstrating how they adapt these traditions with the wider Staten Island community. Her photos represent portraits of this dynamic, changing community.



Antonio De Santis
Abstract Expressionist Paintings | June 16-August 29, M-F 10-4:40PM
Empire State Gallery   500 Seaview Avenue (South Beach)

Antonio De Santis is a contemporary artist who turns awkwardness into an asset, extracting from it an impressive originality of colors and plastic forms. DeSantis is considered an abstract-expressionist artist who started painting as a realist/impressionist. About his work, DeSantis says "all my paintings show significant moments of my life. From the affection for Greek mythology to the tragedy of September 11, my main interest is the emphasis on emotional significance of pictorial elements and their combinations."



Rudolph Montanez

Sculptural Words | Dates: June-August
Richmond County Ball Park  75 Richmond Terrace (St. George)

Rudolph Montanez is a conceptual artist; yet his work is easily accessible. He describes it as "word sculptures that have both literal and ambiguous meaning." Montanez is also a NYC Public High School teacher. He intends for the work to captivate and educate. He finds that his works are great teaching tools for students from different cultural backgrounds. "They learn to apply this concept to their own language in making 3-dimensional words."


Michael Ruffo

Industrial Genre Painting | July 12-August 9
Gallery 6 - 30 Beach St. 2nd Floor (Stapleton)

Michael Ruffo's Bethlehem Steel Plant series involves the interplay of dark shadows and bright colors. His current painting style is in direct correlation with the painting styles he has gone through, coupled with age and visual conceptions. The more confident he becomes with his technique, the more fredom he has to explore areas that seem to be in a more primitive state. When talking about his art, Ruffo explains, "there is never any preconceived consciousness as to where my art will take me. As a painter, my only purpose is to paint, the subject matter is immaterial. My true conviction in the painting process will produce a painting."

Larry DiSalvo

Recycled Art | July 12-August 9
Gallery 6 - 30 Beach St. 2nd Floor (Stapleton)

Larry DiSalvo was not originally a visual artist. His passion lay in music, but due to life's little interruptions, he started on a course towards visual art. He created still lifes, portraits and landscapes for years. Recently he started creating art from recycled garbage-anything from an old coffee can, to a wire hanger, to a chopstick could be a part of a DiSalvo installation; recycled garbage is all fair game when make his sculptures.



| All exhibitions take place on Staten Island |